Sylvia Spruck Wrigley: Finishing. I’m easily distracted and find it hard to see projects through. I enjoy having written more than I enjoy writing.

AK: What’s the worst thing about writing?

SSW: That there’s no excuses. You either put the time in or you don’t. If I cook an exciting new dish and it doesn’t work out, it might be my ingredients weren’t right or the recipe wasn’t well written or that the oven isn’t heating correctly. If something I’ve written doesn’t work out, it’s personal. It’s *me*. That’s hard to deal with because I don’t like failing. I have to fight against the urge to play it safe.

AK: Finish this sentence: “Writing is like…”

SSW: Writing is like a trip. There’s places and people and sights and smells waiting to me to discover them. It’s up to me to try to write it all down, though, to make it appear (or easy to understand) for other people. When it is going well, it feels like I’ve been away. When I’ve finished, I feel like I’ve accomplished something real.

AK: If you could write anywhere in the world, where would it be?

SSW: Everywhere on a laptop! I struggle to write if I don’t have a full sized keyboard and I am so jealous of people who can travel and still write. I take a notebook and pen with me but I never get a lot written because I think, it’ll be so much easier when I get home. I could never pick a single place (even right now I live in two places with two computers set up for me) but if I could have anything in the world, it would be to be able to write on the go and then I could travel more.

AK: Pick five words to describe your latest work.

SSW: Does this mean work in progress? I’m revising a fantasy novella right now: Dark, amusing, twisted, genuine, silly.

AK: Pick five words to describe you.

SSW: Flighty, friendly, intense, disorganised, drunk.

AK: What’s your favorite type of tree?

SSW: Chestnut tree. Chestnut trees are pretty easy to recognise, they are big and green and busy, and they have fun spiky pods to play with. Just don’t make me eat roasted chestnuts, those are vile.

AK: What were you like in high school?

SSW: I was a poor student and often in trouble. I got suspended twice: once for getting caught smoking and once for “overt defiance” in my psychology class. I was a heavy metal rocker with spiky hair and black t-shirts. I left when I was 16. I hope my son doesn’t read this!

AK: If you could give one piece of advice, what would it be?

SSW: If you want to create, then you have to keep at it. Find reasons, find motivations, find people who support you. It doesn’t have to take over your life, just so long as you let it continue to occupy a quiet corner
of your world.

AK: The Colin Harvey Memorial Question: What are 3 things you’d like to do before you die?

SSW: 1) I have outlines for novels which I have not written, I’d like to finish them.
2) Do outdoorsy things that I haven’t found time for in the last few years: go swimming in the sea, climb up a mountain, fly to a small island, go snow skiing, sleep in a tent in the middle of nowhere, go hiking across the desert.
3) Fly a Spitfire.

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Sylvia Spruck Wrigley is an aviation and fantasy writer (but never both at the same time). Born in Heidelberg, she spent her childhood in California and now splits her time between South Wales and Andalucia, two coastal regions with almost nothing in common. You can find out more about her at http://www.intrigue.co.uk/

I met Michael at last year’s HeroesCon–like Bianca, he was our table neighbor. (And of course, he and Bianca know each other from way back!)

It’s funny…being behind tables at a comic con is a bit like being in the trenches (albeit very nice trenches). You form bonds with really great people you might never have otherwise met. I’m so glad Michael was one of those people!!

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Alethea Kontis: What’s your preferred medium?

Michael Banks: I love to work with oils on canvas. It’s very relaxing to me and I can get lost for hours.

AK: What’s the best thing about art?

MB: Being able to create my own world and make people happy.

AK: What’s the worst thing about art?

MB: Not being able to turn my imagination off, stop working and relax a minute.

AK: Finish this sentence: “Art is like…”

MB: a best friend, it’s always there to help you through the hard times and good.

AK: If you could draw/sketch/paint anywhere in the world, where would it be?

Not too many people these days are familiar with the creeptastical work of the esteemed Gelett Burgess, but his books were my bread & butter growing up as a kid. I knew about Goops before I read Dr. Seuss or any of those guys. My Nana could recite the poem in the fronticepiece (and still can). The Goops they lick their fingers / The Goops they lick their knives / They spill their broth on the tablecloth / Oh, they lead disgusting lives!

I first “met” Nicholas when he contacted me through my website last year to inform me that Enchanted had just been named among the 40 Gelett Burgess Children’s Book Award Winners for 2012. At that moment I was thinking: 1.) OMG I WON AN AWARD! 2.) OMG GELETT BURGESS HAS AN AWARD! 3.) OMG I WON *THE* GELETT BURGESS AWARD! 3.) OMG OTHER PEOPLE KNOW AND LOVE THE GOOPS JUST AS MUCH AS ME??

Nicholas Beatty: The research is what does it for me. I love going to research libraries and wearing white gloves as I search through the stacks. Searching for obscure facts thrills me, and I can’t wait to weave them into my stories.

AK: What’s the worst thing about writing?

NB: I am the poster child for Attention Deficit Disorder. Scheduled writing doesn’t work for me because there are 10,000 more important things I can imagine myself doing instead. Therefore, when inspiration strikes I better pay attention even if it comes at 2 or 3 in the morning.

NB: Even though I was very shy in high school, I was able to overcome my shyness by organizing events and campaigns and various projects. I was always organizing one thing or another. If you took me out of my element I would become a total wallflower because I didn’t know what role I was supposed to play.

AK: If you could give one piece of advice (writing or otherwise), what would it be?

NB: Know your subject before you begin writing. If you can do copious amounts of research before you sit down to write, the information is right there with you steeped in your recent memory. I can always tell when a writer is uncomfortable with their subject.

As a children’s book writer, Nicholas Beatty’s projects explore multicultural themes allowing children to discover the world through folktales, recipes and activities. His website can be viewed at CulturedChef.com.

Nicholas Beatty is the author of The Cultured Chef: An International Cookbook for Kids, a not-so-ordinary children’s cookbook filled with unique recipes, whimsical illustrations and stories about fascinating people & places.

The Cultured Chef is currently seeking funding through a month-long Kickstarter campaign ending July 21st. http://kck.st/11QS8PN The book is set to release late October through Goops Children’s Books, 978-0-9834865-5-8

A special bonus for you folks today (and for Mom, in case she doesn’t see this until Saturday) — I have been asked to do some narration for Cast of Wonders!

So, from time to time, you’ll be able to pop on and hear me read a fabulous young adult fantasy story handpicked by some very fine people. (Maybe even some of my own–hint, hint!) I’ll be sure to let you know when they go live.

I had a lot of fun with this piece — tried a new setup, and realized upon listening some things that worked and things that didn’t…but overall I think it is a successful piece. (It was also a very quick turnaround, so I didn’t have the luxury of going back and recording the whole thing again.)

We’re moving to a new apartment next month, and I already have a space picked out in our walk-in closet to have a little table where I can create a small space just for podcasting. I’m so excited!

And yes…hopefully this will ultimately mean more episodes of PRINCESS ALETHEA’S FAIRY TALE THEATRE!

It’s all very exciting. xox

(PS — And tell me…is it just me, or does sometimes my recorded voice sound like Morena Baccarin?)

I met Tammy at a Local Author Book Fair at the Cascades Library earlier this year. Technically, I met Cora first, while all us big people were setting up our booths. Imagine my surprise when I discovered she was THE Cora from Taye and Cora Save the Earth! My very own local celebrity sighting!

I really love Tammy’s fresh approach to children’s writing and her bright, optimistic outlook on life. I’m sure after you read this interview, you will too!

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Alethea Kontis: What’s the best thing about writing?

Tamatha Hollingsworth: The best thing about writing is waking up that inner child to help tap into an imaginary world, with imaginary characters. My first book Taye and Cora Save the Earth introduced children to the basics of conservation. My most recent endeavor The Vegineers really taps into the reader’s imagination by entering into a world full of good and bad garden bugs.

AK: What’s the worst thing about writing?

TH: Sometimes waking up your inner child isn’t very easy. The inner child could be grumpy and doesn’t want to be bothered with imagining. Writer’s block is the worse. There are days when I have writing ideas that are coming so fast I have to pull my car over and write them down, and other times I could be sitting on my back porch with my laptop ready to go and I get nothing.

AK: Finish this sentence: “Writing is like…”

TH: Writing is like taking a journey to an undiscovered imaginary world where there are no boundaries.

AK: If you could write anywhere in the world, where would it be?

TH: I would be in Bora Bora lying in a tikki hut that sits over the crystal blue water a few feet from the white sandy beach. I’ve actually never been to Bora Bora, but those pictures always look so serene. But more realistically, I write best on a Sunday morning, outside on my back porch, overlooking the trees and the garden, sipping a cup of tea.

AK: Pick five words to describe your latest work.

TH: I would describe The Vegineers, which will be released in December 2013, as Multi-Themed, Suspenseful, Amusing, Informative, Friendly

AK: Pick five words to describe you.

TH: Passionate, Tenacious, Thoughtful, Sensitive, Fun-Loving

AK: What’s your favorite type of tree?

TH: The palm tree because I think this is the way we should live our lives. The palm weathers storms and winds, but only bends and never breaks. When the storm is over, like the palm, our roots will be stronger and we learn from the experience.

AK: What were you like in high school?

TH: My senior year of high school I was voted most athletic, I was on the honor roll, and thought I was good at writing rap music. What I liked about writing rap music was the rhyming. My first draft of my latest children’s book, The Vegineers, was in rhyme. Writing a children’s book in rhyme was a big challenge. The meter and rhythm have to be pretty much perfect, and you can’t force words just for the sake of rhyming. After several edits, and a year later, I gave up and wrote the book in prose.

AK: If you could give one piece of advice (writing or otherwise), what would it be?

TH: Take charge of your own destiny. Most people don’t feel like they have time to write a book. But, once I got off Facebook and turned off the TV, I found I had much more time than I had ever realized.

AK: The Colin Harvey Memorial Question: What are 3 things you’d like to do before you die?

TH: Educate and inform children all over the world with my children’s books

See the Great Barrier Reef in Australia

Take that trip to Bora Bora

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Tamatha Hollingsworth lives in Virginia with her husband and two children. She is a Certified Public Accountant and Finance Director at George Washington University.

Her first book “Taye and Cora Save the Earth” was inspired as a keepsake book for her children that included their images and names while teaching them basic conservation tips. She hopes her second book “The Vegineers” will inspire children and adults to not only eat vegetables, but to choose natural ways to protect gardens.

MoAA today stars Bianca Roman-Stumpff, my new BFF from this year’s HeroesCon. Her art is amazing and playful and colorful and deep…and I bought out almost all her fairy tale collection.

She’ll be doing something fun with the Woodcutter Sisters soon, so be sure to pay attention to this gal. She’s FABULOUS!!!

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Alethea Kontis: What’s your preferred medium?

Bianca Roman-Stumpff: I love painting, specifically with acrylic paint. I’m not biased or anything but seriously, acrylic is the best. I have an infatuation with Bristol smooth paper and arches buff. Currently I have a love hate relationship with canvas.

AK: What’s the best thing about art?

BRS: There are no rules. Ever. You are only held back by the restrictions you place on yourself. It is always changing. You can utilize different mediums, techniques and subject matter.

AK: What’s the worst thing about art?

BRS: There are no rules. So sometimes it can get overwhelming.

AK: Finish the sentence: “Art is like…”

BRS: a long term relationship. It takes work, sometimes it is stressful, sometimes you hate it but in the long run it is the best thing that has ever happened to you.

AK: If you could draw/sketch/paint anywhere in the world, where would it be?

BRS: On top of a mountain overlooking the world.

AK: Pick five words to describe your latest work

BRS: Based on my Little Puff Monsters I would have to say adorable, unexpected, silly, random and nostalgic

AK: Pick five words to describe you.

BRS: Sporadic, ridiculous, dedicated, scatterbrained and determined

AK: What’s your favorite type of tree?

BRS: A fig tree, I’ve always wanted one.

AK: What were you like in high school?

BRS: I was a more hyper version of myself now. I was always drawing and when I wasn’t doing that I was bouncing off the walls.

AK: If you could give one piece of advice (artistic or otherwise), what would it be?

BRS: Don’t shelf your dreams. Do everything. If you want to be an artist, do it. Don’t hold yourself back. Apply yourself to anything worth doing. It can be a long road, it can even look impossible at times. I promise if you give it a shot, if you put the time in and perfect your craft, you will be successful.

AK: What are 3 things you’d like to do before you die?

BRS: learn how to weld, blow glass and sculpt

go to all 50 states (21 down so far)

Laugh every day and have a great time with great people.

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My name is Bianca Roman-Stumpff, a mouthful I know. I am originally from New Hampshire and have transplanted to Orlando. I am married to a fantastic husband and we have a cat who enjoys shedding in my paint. My artwork is constantly changing and I try to paint every day. I have shown my work in art walks, galleries, conventions and festivals. You can find my art at https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Art-of-Bianca-Roman-Stumpff/146457122073350

I met TL this year at the RWA booth at BEA and talked her through her very first book signing. It was a bonding experience for both of us! I am so very proud to present today’s MoAA interview with TL Costa!

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Alethea Kontis: What’s the best thing about writing?

TL Costa: Being able to experience the world through other people’s eyes and subtexts. I like to think of it as method acting on paper.

AK: What’s the worst thing about writing?

TLC: Forcing myself to finish the project I’m working on when all of my new ideas seem so bright and shiny.

AK: Finish this sentence: “Writing is like…”

TLC: Hmmm. Writing is like singing a new world to life. There was one project I was working on where I had to do a lot of research into Kabbala and read the Sefir Yetzirah. In it I read that rabbis could essentially create a golem by singing it to life. The image has always stayed with me, and when I write a story I like to think that my words sing this work into being.

AK: If you could write anywhere in the world, where would it be?

TLC: Spain. Give me some paella cooked over a fire pit on the beach and a glass of good Spanish red and I am one happy writer.

AK: Pick five words to describe your latest work.

TLC: SAY ANYTHING meets ENDERS GAME

AK: Pick five words to describe you.

TLC: Stubborn. Compassionate. Funny.

AK: What’s your favorite type of tree?

TLC: Japanese Maple.

AK: What were you like in high school?

TLC: A bad-ass, nerdy, stage-diving mama.

AK: If you could give one piece of advice (writing or otherwise), what would it be?

TLC: As cliché as it sounds, never give up. It’s never too late to try something new.

AK: The Colin Harvey Memorial Question: What are 3 things you’d like to do before you die?

TLC: Go to Carnaval in Rio De Janeiro, see the Taj Majal, eat sushi in Japan.

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TL Costa lives in a house in the suburbs but tries her best to make it more of a farm. She loves writing, and her first book, PLAYING TYLER, is out now from Strange Chemistry Press.

Jessica Arnold: Writing is absolute power. If you end a story with “and then they all got hit by a bus,” that’s exactly what happens. Life may be complicated and restrictive, but when you write up a new world, you set your own rules. You can truly let your imagination run wild.

AK: What’s the worst thing about writing?

JA: It’s often hard to find the discipline to sit down and make things work. Once you’ve let yourself go crazy creating a story, you need to make sure all the puzzle pieces you just dumped out of your brain actually fit together. And that takes a lot of concentration, creativity, and persistence. But it’s that attention to detail that polishes up a raw story and really makes it shine.

AK: Finish this sentence: “Writing is like…”

JA: A blank check. You can do anything you want with it.

AK: If you could write anywhere in the world, where would it be?

JA: I’m so torn! Ummm … thinking … On the one hand it would be romantic to sit on the porch of my elaborate imaginary beach house and write the best story ever while the sun sets over the ocean. But I also would love to curl up with my awesome retro typewriter (also imaginary) under a tree near a brook. (Note that mosquitos and assorted other bugs do not exist in this writing dreamscape.)

AK: Pick five words to describe your latest work

JA: Honest, emotional, devastating but hopeful

AK: Pick five words to describe you.

JA: Sensitive, stubborn, spirited, savvy, and soulful

AK: What’s your favorite type of tree?

JA: Weeping Willows! I’ve always thought they were the elegant long-haired ladies of the tree world.

AK: What were you like in high school?

JA: Sometimes I like to pretend I was a wild sixteen-year-old just chomping at the bit to break free and forge my own way in the world. This is not true. As a teen, I was a slightly less boring version of my current self. (You know that kid who never had a curfew because they never stayed out late? I was that kid.) I loved to read (still true). I was obsessed with fairytales (also still true). I had friends (thankfully also still true). I was the teen that all the adults looked at and said “she has her head screwed on straight.” But I was also very afraid of what life would hold for me. I’m glad to have a little more perspective on things now (and you have to imagine me saying this very serenely as I take a leisurely sip of tea … pinky raised, naturally).

AK: If you could give one piece of advice (writing or otherwise), what would it be?

JA: Don’t rush. You don’t have to prove anything. I wrote my first book at seventeen and was in such a hurry to become this grand successful author that I forgot to enjoy the process. Now, several years of trial and a lot of error later, I have realized that grand successful authors are the lottery winners of the publishing world. The joy you will get from spending the time to write something honest and heartfelt is even more rewarding than seeing your name on a book cover or a bestseller list. It’s the writing that is important. Whatever follows it will follow in time. And maybe you’ll win the lottery. Who knows?

AK: The Colin Harvey Memorial Question: What are 3 things you’d like to do before you die?

JA: Before I die I would like to 1) give a truly amazing gift to someone who isn’t expecting it, 2) fall deeply, head-over-heels in love with someone (yes, I’m still waiting for this to happen … heavy sigh), and 3) write something that even I can be totally happy with. Number 3 is unlikely, because like most of my writer friendsown most merciless critic.

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Jessica Arnold writes novels for young adults. Her debut title, The Looking Glass, will be available from Month9Books in early January 2014. Visit her online home at www.iamjessicaarnold.com.

The Looking Glass (Month9Books, 7 January 2014) is a loose retelling of Alice in Wonderland. After an accident leaves her body in a coma, a girl wakes to find herself trapped and alone in a haunted hotel. While miles away her heart pounds out its numbered beats, she must figure out a way to break the curse that has imprisoned her before she becomes its next victim.

Our MoAA subject today is Eugene (E.C.) Myers. Yes, THAT Eugene Myers, the one who stole this year’s Andre Norton Award right out from under my nose (and Leah’s nose, and Sarah’s nose, and Jenn’s nose…).

But here’s the thing, Mom — you can’t hate Eugene, because he’s a really awesome guy. We became really good friends in about point-five seconds (which made me regret not having the time to get to know him better at Dragon*Con, where we *actually* met briefly, in the green room, a year ago). He’s a geek like me, and likes a lot of the same stuff I do, and laughs about the same kinds of things…and he has a really great story about how he proposed to his wife. You’ll have to ask him sometime.

But I feel sure that if you like me (yes, even my mother), then you’ll like Eugene. Just read along and see for yourself! (And then pick up Fair Coin and see just what level of awesome it took to beat us all out!)

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Alethea Kontis: What’s the best thing about writing?

E. C. Myers: Creating something that didn’t exist before, and that wouldn’t exist if you hadn’t written it.

AK: What’s the worst thing about writing?

ECM: Not having as much time for family, friends, pets, reading, watching TV, playing video games, or staring at the wall not doing much of anything.

AK: Finish this sentence: “Writing is like…”

ECM: Coming up with an image in your head, learning how to paint, painting that image, learning photography, taking a picture of your painting, printing it and cutting it up into little puzzle-shaped pieces, jumbling all the pieces together in a box, losing some of the pieces, trying to fit them all back together again, jamming them in when they won’t go, cheating with scissors, and adding new pieces from other puzzles as needed. Then, sometimes, you’re taking a photo (or maybe a photocopy) of the assembled puzzle and starting all over again. Glue comes in handy.

AK: If you could write anywhere in the world, where would it be?

ECM: I would like to write somewhere different for every project (and depending on the season, of course), but I would want a permanent writing space in a vast library somewhere, maybe at the top of a tower with a winding staircase and stained glass windows, with a wide desk facing a balcony with a gorgeous view. The key thing is being surrounded by books though. Everything else is optional.

ECM: I was such a geek. I’m still a geek, but I’m better at hiding it in mixed company. (Aren’t I?) I was not very outgoing or open, even with my few close friends, and I was incredibly awkward a lot of the time. I defined myself by my grades and my interests, but I think I’ve gotten smarter and more interesting since.

AK: If you could give one piece of advice (writing or otherwise), what would it be?

ECM: Take time for yourself, which might mean take time for writing or any of the other things that are important to you.

AK: The Colin Harvey Memorial Question: What are 3 things you’d like to do before you die?

ECM: Discover and master a new talent. Tour the world. Find a way to cheat death.

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E.C. Myers was assembled in the U.S. from Korean and German parts and raised by a single mother and a public library in Yonkers, New York. His first novel, Fair Coin (Pyr, 2012), received the 2012 Andre Norton Award for Outstanding Young Adult Science Fiction/Fantasy Book and was a finalist for the 2013 Compton Crook Award. Visit http://ecmyers.net for more information about him and his work.